Iolan Earl Bell, a veteran of the Korean War, joined a group of about 25 Oct. 24 for a daylong trip to Washington, D.C.
The Honor Flight trip of war veterans was organized by Holton volunteers. Serving as volunteer helpers for the veterans were Jackson Heights High School students.
Bell, 83, said the Washington trip included several stops for the veterans, including the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and the famed Marine Corps War Memorial, which depicts the iconic scene of Marines planting a flag on Iwo Jima’s Mt. Suribachi during World War II.
Bell, who keeps busy painting “whenever I can get a job,” recounted his tour of duty.
He enlisted in December 1951 and served in California, Texas, New York City and Massachusetts before heading overseas as part of the 398th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion.
“I saw both oceans and all of Mexico in the service,” Bell recalled.
He shipped out from New York Harbor, down the eastern seaboard and eventually through the Panama Canal before stops in Hawaii and Yokohama, Japan, and finally to an Army base south of Seoul, South Korea.
He spent about nine months in Korea.
“It might have been longer, but it took us so long to get there,” he said with a chuckle.
There, Bell was a corporal whose outfit manned .50 caliber and 40 millimeter machine guns.
There was only one instance of trouble, Bell recalled, when they could hear a potential enemy plane flying overhead.
“I was supposed to be in charge, but I wanted to fire the .50 caliber,” he said.
Bell was armed and ready to fire, but nobody could find the aircraft before it left the area.
“l never fired a shot,” he said. “You’ve gotta see it before you could shoot it.”
He also crossed paths with younger brother, Roy, who also was stationed in Korea.
Bell returned home in October 1953.
He paid one last visit to the Korean peninsula with his late son, David, in 1996.
The Honor Flight was a memorable experience, Bell said.
“When we arrived at Baltimore, there were about 100 people waiting for us at the airport,” he said. “They all started applauding. It was quite a sight.”
Veteran takes Honor Flight
